Some of your problems are coming from a contradiction. If you want realism, you cannot have a floating volcano, period. Volcanoes come from deep in the mantle or deeper.
If you want total fantasy, then you don't care about any of the geology, tectonics, geography, realistic climate zones, etc.
You really can't have both. I think you should decide if you are just going to place land features wherever you want them, or if you are going to try and make your world look real. Once you have decided that, it will be much easier to make decisions about placement, terrain features, biomes, and the rest.
I can see whew you're coming from. Id like to make it closer to real fantasy elements, but can't I have some psuedo-realism in the realm? I mean, If I did have a floating volcano it woukd have to affect the environment pretty significantly, and I wouldn't want those affects to go unnoticed.
But that's basically where I'm coming from. I definitely want this to be a fantasy, but I want it in a settibg that Is psuedo-realistic. Is that still a stretch for being obtainable?
In the end, it's your map and you can do whatever you want with it
If you want realism, expect people to point out that volcanoes can't float. If you want pure magic, gods, and fantasy, then realism goes out the window and you might as well not even bother with realism, because anyone who sees the map will know immediately that it's not. "Pseudo-" anything doesn't fool readers
Internal coherence is the one law of world building. If your volcanoes all behave consistently with whatever rules you say they follow then it can work.
That leaves the primary volcano question for your world: why do volcanoes float?
When you said the volcano was god-powered, it kinda made me think of the Stargate movie with the starship pyramid where the god/e.t., Ra, lives and rules over the people. I know it's science fiction, but it is an example of a natural world with a sort of floating mountain driven by a god. I think you'll be able to work it out without much trouble.
Oh! I didn't realize that I had overlooked such an important detail! Not all volcanoes float, just this one- its propelled by a magical "engine," if you will, that keeps it flying. Actually, one of the plots I have involved destroying that system and letting it fall into the ground. The stargate pyramid is actually a pretty good example. I wonder if that makes the idea viable; though after all, I am gearing this toward high fantasy... There is a lot of magic that goes around breaking the laws of physics in this book, so having clearly established laws to break makes things easier. I do actually plan on making this turn from a high fantasy INTO a scifi at some point (which, without getting into too much plot detail, makes sense with the magic system.)
ANYWAY
I know this might sound like a "have your cake and eat it too" scenario, but I just wanna make sure I have all of my bases covered on this front. It should be noted that I'm actually pretty bad at asking the question I want answered- its much easier to explore my ideas and problems when I'm in the middle of a conversation. I think I can narrow down the problems I'm anxious about to a few things, now that I've gotten my bases covered.
ONE: So you have a floating volcano, how does it affect the world economy? The way I have it pictured is that winds scatter the ash- the currents take it north to those swamps you see there, which have extremely lush and fertile ground that has been affected by the wildlife. To the south, there is a beach that extends to a desert (you can see that on the map)
TWO: Do the geographical elements I have now actually make sense within my world? As mentioned previously, mountain ranges have a pretty significant impact on the environment. I want to make sure I can fit those elements where I have color-blobbed them, and If I can't, to figure out why not/if I should just screw it and let magic take over.
THREE: Once those two questions are resolved nicely, how do I go about adding details to the map? I've been looking at world maps for reference, but they have extremely variable levels of detail and id like to keep it fantasy-esque in its design. But, how much detail is too much when adding it into a map?
But yes! yes for sure that should have been clarified! It is only the one volcano that floats- it's not something that happens naturally, so to speak. Sorry if I missed that; I'm also sorry if this just brought up another whole slew of questions.
Gee golly whillikers! Do I ever disagree with that! I don't know how many good fantasy books I've read or how many good, bad and indifferent gaming modules I've seen over the years that place totally illogical aberrations of magic in an otherwise geologically, geographically and biologically logical and realistic world. One could start with Prof. Tolkien and continue from there along that fantasy road that goes ever on.Originally Posted by chick
Mark Oliva
The Vintyri (TM) Project
I heartily agree with Mark here.
If thew volcano is god powered, it may as well be not affecting the rest of the world, because, you know, god-stuff. I get Chick's point though: why bother with realism if anything goes anyway?
Apart from that discussion my advice would be not to overthink the details of tectonics and geography. I usually go with the flow and outline the continent and put in mountains in what feels right to me. When that's done is when I start going to a bit more detail regarding biomes.
In the end I think it's the story that should mostly dictate what you need where. If you want a desert next to arctic regions come up with a reason for it. If you do not NEED a desert next to an arctic region, put it where it belongs. To get a better grip on the natural placement of biomes I like to just look at google earth.
Hope that helped a little.
If it doesn't match your vision of your world, you will fill the gaps with magic? It's ok to do that, I think. Some universe will benefit form a realistic universe. Others, (Disc world, Alice in Wonderland, Ravenloft, Dark souls, to name only a few) will even benefit form an unrealistic world. But they usually have their own consistent rules. It's just that they are different than ours or they are not explained at all.
Essentially, this question deals with both the issue of who is doing what and getting down to the essentials of what is important.
Some guild members are quite involved in producing reality maps, and that's an important part of guild activity. They should keep doing so. We all can learn a lot from their work, and, in fact, I think we do.
When I look at the maps that are posted here, I find that a substantial majority of them are not reality maps at all but rather maps intended to illustrate fantasy tales or fantasy RPG adventures. Fantasy, I think, really has proven itself to be the flagship of the guild, which, quite happily, also has lots of space for reality mapping.
Fantasy is fantasy because it inserts non-reality into a virtual reality, which only to varying degrees corresponds to reality itself. In a fantasy environment reality usually is nowhere near as important as believability. For things to be believable in a fantasy setting. one needs some comprehension of the rules that apply in this alternate realty. The real world non-realities that then are introduced into this alternate reality must live up to those rules rather than our own real world rules. If the rules of the alternate reality are unclear or if elements are introduced that violate the alternate reality's own rules, then believability will be difficult to attain.
Shanrakk has placed a god-made floating volcano into his/her fantasy setting. He/she has to do some things now to attain believability, if he/she wants to be successful and credible. However, one thing he/she should not now do, Chick's suggestions notwithstanding, is to then forget the rest of reality. We fantasy readers and fantasy RPG gamers still live in the real world with reality ... perhaps unfortunately, as some might suggest. The less that we can understand the alternate reality of a fantasy world, the more likely we are to interpret it in terms of the real world. Therefore, we need to begin building fantasy worlds with the realities of the real world as a foundation, and then give the game master or reader or whomever the ability to understand why some things in the fantasy world are quite different from those in our world and by what rules those things function.
Shanrakk, as far as I've seen, has not yet told us why the god has blessed, cursed or whatever his or her world with such a strange thing as a floating volcano. Nor is there any particular reason why he/she should do so at this stage of development. But the why really is the point, not arguments that if you create this one unreal thing, you might as well ditch all real things. Answers that Shanrakk still has not given us and by no means is obliged to give us at this point (or perhaps at any point) are the proper criterion for judging his/her floating volcano. If the rest of his/her world or even substantial parts of it correspond to reality, that's not only not dispensable, but it also is commendable.
Let us not get too carried away in demanding that people who are involved in fantasy should adhere to reality. I think most folks who understand a thing or two about mountains would agree that Prof. Tolkien's right-angled mountains of Mordor are ridiculous, as far as reality is concerned. However, they have a reality of their own in his Middle Earth, which otherwise, to 95%, mirrors the realities of our own real world. It matters not whether one likes Prof. Tolkien's works. The nonsensical Mountains of Mordor have provided more people world wide with a successful fantasy experience made clear by successful fantasy maps than anything else published to date.
People who demand reality with no exceptions allowed fail to understand an important thing or two.
Last edited by Mark Oliva; 03-29-2015 at 04:24 PM.
Mark Oliva
The Vintyri (TM) Project
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